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Podcasts Take Two
Scientists use 3-D printing to create body parts from scratch
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Feb 25, 2013
Listen • 6:18
Scientists use 3-D printing to create body parts from scratch
Making body parts from scratch sounds like the stuff of science fiction novels, but scientists are already creating artificial organs and tissue with the help of machines.
Cornell University biomedical engineer Lawrence Bonassar holds the scaffolding for an ear. His laboratory is using a 3-D printer and cartilage-producing cells to create the ear.
Cornell University biomedical engineer Lawrence Bonassar holds the scaffolding for an ear. His laboratory is using a 3-D printer and cartilage-producing cells to create the ear.
(
Lindsay France, Cornell University, via AP
)

Making body parts from scratch sounds like the stuff of science fiction novels, but scientists are already creating artificial organs and tissue with the help of machines.

Making body parts from scratch sounds like the stuff of science fiction novels, but scientists are already creating artificial organs and tissue with the help of machines.

This month, Cornell University researchers demonstrated how they could make a new ear with a 3-D printer, using living cells as the printer jet ink.  With more on medical 3-D printing is Quentin Hardy, Deputy Technology Editor of the New York Times.